This sums up my feelings as well. An AD does more that just hire and fire. Wellman is responsible for the awesomeness that is Deacon Tower, the score board, etc. Opposing fans come and rave about Groves Stadium. That did not happen before Wellman. Grobe and Prosser were great hires. Gaudio was the correct hire at the time, although he was obviously not a correct fit.
I am BuzzWaitandSee, but I like the effort we are seeing out of the guys this year. I am also optimistic with the recruiting. I think we need to be in the top half of the ACC next year and top third the following year.
It is also hard for me to complain about Wellman when you see what a mess a school like MD is in. Md has far more students, alumni and support than Wake. They are operating at a loss, cutting programs and everyone universally hates their FB coach, including their players. They are going to be a bottom dweller for the foreseeable future.
Wake has numerous factors working against it (size, proximity to other BCS schools, high academic standards), and I think that Wellman has done a tremendous job within those constraints. For example, look at NC State. They have tremendous facilities, tremendous alumni support and we have continually beat them in Winston. We won a GD ACC title in 2006. State, with all of its support, hasn't won one since 1979.